I suck at this...

Yup! I've been missing. I had a grand time in Florida and kept planning on writing some amaze balls summary of events. HOWEVER life continues to be busy, TIS THE SEASON!!! (said with sarcasm through my gritting teeth).

So I'm not avoiding things any longer, so here's a quick rundown of the trip through pictures!!

Basically we drank. A lot. And drank some more. And took pictures of sunrises and sunsets. And yes, we brought our own umbrellas, so every drink was an umbrella drink ;)

lent

Life has been crazzzzy.

If you follow my other blog you know how stressful and upsetting my work life has been. Its not been good, and I've been very stressed and absent. Obviously. So......... Here goes...........

I know this sounds silly, but I've given up laziness for lent.

Things have been going well. I don't know about weight, or calories or food or whatever. But I feel more productive and that helps.

I'll keep you posted on life. Thanks for sticking with me!! :)

Lots of Love

Book Review: Real Food Has Curves

As promised... finally here's my book review of Real Food Has Curves

I really really liked this book! I randomly picked it up at the library when I was browsing for something new to read. What's funny about this book, is that there was absolutely no new information for me. Its really mostly common sense... and yet... I couldn't put it down!

Written by two foodies who write and cook for several different magazines and even Weight Watchers, its laid out in such a user friendly way it was a great resource. I even took notes and made several photocopies some of the 100 recipes inside, for future use. If I had enough money, I would totally buy this for a shelf reference.

Basically, they discuss how we've gotten to eating food that's not really "food" anymore. Highly processed, over sugared, over salted, over fattened food that has helped create the obesity crisis in our country. They offer easy ways to cut out all the crap we eat, and easy ways to bring real food back into our daily menus. They try to teach you how to get back into really enjoying what you eat, savoring, and taking pleasure in all the textures, flavors and aromas, that have made eating such a treat for centuries. Sounds great doesn't it?!

The main key is that they break down (and teach you to do it too) food into these categories. Here's also some examples of each to help you understand.

Food
Fresh pasta
Bone-in whole chicken
Fresh tomatoes
Almost Real Food
Dried Pasta
Boneless/skinless chicken parts
Natural, salt-free canned tomatoes
Barely Real Food
Frozen, cooked pasta
Canned chicken
Flavored, salted, stewed tomatoes
Not Real Food
Canned Pasta
Frozen, breaded chicken nuggets
Condensed tomato soup

I know it seems obvious, but the goal is to eat as much "real" food as possible. The next alternative is "almost real food" and of course, avoid anything deemed "not real food" as it has the most preservatives, added salts and fats and sugars, all usually used as preservatives, and all add unnecessary calories and bad stuff.

Another funny, and yet not surprising fact is that the "average" person only spends 8 minutes a day preparing their meals, down from an average of 72 minutes circa 1975. EIGHT MINUTES! Of course we don't have as much free time as we used to, but this doesn't mean we have to cut quite so many corners. This means that most of us are not cooking our food, or chopping veggies or deboning fresh halibut. Again, they make a plea/recommendation to take the time and effort to cook your own food and prepare. They gave a great example of how many parents use fish sticks as a quick "go-to" solution for their kids dinners. Thinking that they save so much time and money to do so. When on the contrary, they find that making oven-fried breaded fish fillets only actually take 4 minutes longer to prepare (28 minutes vs. 24) cost 20 cents less per serving and have 110 fewer calories per serving. The difference of course, isn't time, but EFFORT.

Finally, my favorite suggestion they give, which I'm going to try, is to try one new recipe or food item per week. Browse your grocery aisles and find some new sauce, oil, pasta, fruit, spice or whatever per week. It makes your cooking experiences more entertaining and engaging. And when you put more thought into what you eat, you'll eat less and less often. I think its a great idea, and can't wait to try some avocado oil, which they recommended as an alternative to olive oil in certain recipes. Sounds fun, right?!

So there you go. I highly recommend you check this book out and give it a read. It makes me really excited to go grocery shopping and spend some time planning fun menus and trying new foods! They also have a blog in which they try new recipes and give hints and tips also. So I recommend checking that out as well :)
Real Food Has Curves

Bon Appetit!

me and my couch: a love affair

They're back. Those dirty little crap-peddlers...

I'll admit it. I was weak. Its hard to say no sometimes.

Oh, and I also bought ice cream.

I've been having a pretty rough couple of weeks. If you read my other blog you know what I'm talking about. To summarize, the job market is rough, my money is running low, and I'm freaking the F out. And of course being stressed out does not bode well for dieting, exercising, or being healthy. I know, its no excuse, but its the truth, and that's what I'm all about here.

So most days, I lie on the couch. I know, I'm pretty much wallowing in self-pity, and that is not going to solve any of my problems. And I know I'd feel better emotionally if I physically worked out some of my stress. But its so counter intuitive, and its just not been happening recently. I know, I suck.

So there it is, my life in a nutshell. Keep your eyes out for the return of my self-esteem. Should be back here in a few days!! :)

VDay weekend and other diet woes

Okay, I really really suck. Yes, I weighed myself today, and no, I'm not going to share it with you. Its ridiculous. Yo-Yo much?! *sigh* Oh well, its all about making life long changes, no just a quick fix, right?

My main problem is eating out, or eating as a group. And bacon. Please read on!

This weekend Mr. Man and I went to the coast with some other couples for VDay Weekend fun. We ate out almost every meal, which is terrible for diets! The worst part isn't scouring the menu for the ONE or TWO descent menu items that won't blow the bank... Its having to read through all those fatty, super delicious, evil, cheese covered items that you can't have. I'm so weak!!

And heaven forbid if it comes with "salad, soup, or french fries" because we all know what we want to pick. Dirty little bastards.

So. Bacon you say? Oh yeah. We bought breakfast for everyone, which included bacon, eggs and bread for toast. Well it turns out no one wanted to eat at home and everyone wanted chicken fried steak. Well, I myself am not a huge chicken fried steak fan, however Mr. Man and I were left with 2 pounds of bacon (Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day!! like two pounds of bacon) and its sitting in my fridge. So I've had bacon every day for 3 days.

Now I know that the bacon isn't going to kill me, but I certainly know its NOT HELPING.

And thus, we're back to the drawing board again. It also doesn't help I felt like shit for the 2 days we came back and haven't felt motivated to work out. Nice, huh?

Jillian and I have a date set for tomorrow. Oh how I hate her. And yet, don't want to live without her. I've really got to dedicate myself to this, if I want to see any results.

I'm renewed! The 30 days, start TOMORROW!

back to the drawing board

So yes, its been a few days since I've blogged. I haven't had too much to report, other than awesome failures this weekend.

I tried so hard to be good. Seriously. I TRIED. I know, you all think I'm a liar.

I made my own salsa. Made my own guacamole. Made my own buffalo wings. I mean honestly, the food was great!! But still, you're not supposed to eat 4 times the normal quantity. DOH! My bad. Its so easy to over eat when you're basically grazing for 4 hours.

I was really proud of myself though, I worked out BEFORE the game!! Yayyy!!! Success!! So I didn't feel quite so bad pigging out. I was still a little sore from Jillian's ass kicking, so I tried a different video OnDemand. I was something random, and I won't be doing it again, and it isn't really worth telling you about. I did get a good sweat on though, so I felt good about that.

Monday morning -- scale said 184 (I just threw up a little in my mouth)
And today?! -- 182!! Are you kidding me?!? What. The. Fuck.

Back to the beginning. AGAIN. AGAIN!!!

I Jillian'd today. Ate relatively well. I did have mashed potatoes for dinner. But that's ALL I had for dinner. Not super nutritious, but the potatoes were going bad. I just boiled them, mashed them, added some salt and pepper, a little bit of skim milk and 2 tbsp of  real unsalted butter. I'm sure for calories it wasn't bad, although I pretty much had carbs for dinner. WOO!

On another note I'm currently reading a book called Real Food Has Curves which I'm really enjoying. It basically talks about eating REAL food, and cutting out all the processed crap that we eat all the time. I'll write up a review when I'm done!

AND tomorrow is payday, so I'll try to get some real groceries, and make some real meals, and pass some recipes along to you! I have some great ones that I want to try!!

Your "feels like I'm always going to be fluffy" friend,

Every Day

 Its been two weeks since I started The Flex Diet Solution plan.

Before I move on to the Every Day goals/rules, lets review my progress with the Today goals/rules, which were:

1. Commit yourself by taking a photo. Check!
2. Write a blog. Check!
3. Weigh yourself daily. Check! Although I really do have a love/hate relationship with my scale. Seriously, one day it'll be 175, then 172, then 181. Sometimes all in the same day! WTF mate? I can't figure out. Today's was 179. That's why I haven't been posting about my weight "officially" because its so all over the map. I might start using my mom's just to see if I really fluctuate that much. So for now, "official" weigh ins will be once per month.
4. Keep a food diary. EPIC FAIL! Big big fail on this one. Although I am doing a pretty good job at remembering what I've eaten through out the day, doing mental checks before I eat again When did I eat last? How much did I eat? But I really need to get better at this. As we all know the photo food diary has been about 2 for 10, so I'll just try to focus on a private food diary.
5. Drink 6 glasses of water a day. Fail. Although I have been better at drinking one glass per day, because before I drank NONE. Almost never. So, a small start is a good start, but I'll try to do better. I promise.
6. Take a multivitamin. Fail. I'm about 3 for 7 on this one.
7. Eat more apples. So-So. "More?" Yes. But I'll shoot for 3 a week.
8. Eat greek yogurt. Check! I love it with fruit.
9. No eating after dinner (cut off is 8pm). Check! I'm really proud of myself on this one.
10. Sleep at least 7 hours per night. Check! I've never had a problem with this one. McGriddle Pants does not function well with less than 7 hour. Or 8 for that matter. I likes my sleep :)

NOW this means its time to choose my "Every Day" goals/rules for my life. These are the things that can take up to 20 days to fully implement into your weight-loss routine, but will then become part of your "Every Day" plan (which of course is the next step).

1. Eat breakfast every day.
2. NO BAGELS!
3. Don't eat and drive.
4. Don't eat while watching television
5. Eat beans once a week.
6. Make vegetables your main course (Meatless Monday!)
7. Substitute quinoa for white rice.
8. Cut out sugar-sweetened beverages.
9. Drink green tea (at least 1 cup per day)
10. Don't eat from the restaurant bread basket.

Onward and Upward!! Or, downward, since I want the scale to go DOWN. Hehee!

i think my body is telling me something

So please tell me if anyone else has this dilemma...?

I've been trying to be good with my exercise. Tuesday I did my Jillian Michaels. Wednesday I was a little sore, so I went on a 2 mile walk. Thursday, still a little sore, did an hour long yoga program on my OnDemand, which I must say, kicked my ass!

>>side note>> yoga can be really tough on your wrists and elbows. yikes!

So here I am. STILL SORE. Sore in different places. Sore in some of the same places. Which is good.  

Buuuut, do you work out sore muscles? Are you supposed to work out if you're sore? Or, are you supposed to be taking an off day? I can never remember how this works.

Some websites say don't work out, that your muscles are recovering. Others say its good, and you can get faster, better results if working out when sore.

What are your thoughts?

back in the saddle!

Home made waffle, almond butter, blueberries, V8 and coffee

Breakfast!! It was YUMMM!

Have you noticed I tend to only remember to take pics of the healthy stuff? Uggghhh. Notice how I didn't show you the club sandwich with fries I had for dinner last night. I WAS good, and ordered it without bacon and mayo, but I did eat most of the fries. FAIL. Oh well.

The good news is I did work out yesterday! TWICE! (sort of). It was super sunny and I thought, Hey! I'll walk the dog! In actuality, it was like 30 degrees outside, so we walk/jogged about a 1/2 mile and came back cause it was c-c-c-cccold! And I completed my Day 1 of Jillian Michaels Death March 30 Day Shred. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The cardio was pretty easy, but it was a couple of the lunges that killed my right knee, where I've been having pains, and some of the rows were killing my elbow too.

BUT OTHER THAN THAT... all went well. I am mildly sore today, but I do want to work out again, so I'll probably try a yoga program and walk the dog (for longer than a half mile, this time I'll remember my jacket). I mean, after all, the dog really could benefit from losing a couple of pounds too ;) He's my extra motivation!

LOST: all motivation

Wow, its funny how all it takes to throw you off is a few bad days. POOP! Sure, the sun has been out for 2 days. You'd think I'd be motivated to get OUTSIDE and enjoy the sunshine! Oh no, my allergies had another idea. I basically spent the last weekend in Benedryl haze, in misery on my couch. I finally feel better today, but I still feel a little out of it, but at least my nose isn't running (and running... and running... and running...)

SOOOO needless to say I was pretty  much a suck for 2 days. And then the boyfriend offered to make me dinner cause I was feeling poopy, and sure enough he made chicken parmasean, the fattiest worst thing I could have eaten. But how could I say no?!

I know, I know, I really need to get on the exercise kick, along with the diet. So, I'm going to do just that. So here's my plan-a-roo:

• Starting tomorrow I'm going to re-start the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Its pretty die hard, but its only 20 minutes a day of ass-kickery. OH man, does she kick your ass. I'm honestly not looking forward to it. I'm going to do her program only three days a week.
• I'm also starting a Couch to 5K program, so I can actually run a 5K sometime this year. I'm going to do the couch to 5K training on my "off days" from Jillian Michael's. So this means I'll be couch to 5King three days a week.
• Yoga 2 days a week. I found a new yoga place in town, so I'd really like to get to some real classes. But its $10 a time (pretty cheap as far as yoga goes). I'd like to also try to do some of the "on demand" videos.

I'm aware this sounds daunting. But I gotta get off my ass and get to it! I feel that if I'm more structured and rigid with my "plan" than I will be better at actually making myself DO. IT. ya know?

Besides the weight-loss motovation, I feel like I'm falling apart. Last summer I was having some joint problems, mostly discomfort when I was sleeping; hips and knees. When I started the 30 Day Shred last time, the aches and pains all but went away. Well now not only my hips, but my right knees is killing me, along with my right shoulder and right elbow. NO IDEA what's going on with the right side of my body, other than I'm falling apart and am ancient. I'm hoping getting my joins moving will help!!

And I picked up this new book, I'll let you know how how it is!!

the challenge of a hangover

Hangovers are evil. Seriously. They do more damage to my diet than anything. Does anyone else get the craving for Mt. Dew, Cheddar Sour Cream Ruffles and Pizza? Greasy, greasy, oh-so-delcious pizza? No? Oh, maybe its just me. Anyway. The drinking the night before didn't help either. Book club was a raging (see: drunken) success and so much fun, but I'm paying the price today. I'm sure the millions of calories of beer and wine weren't helpful either.

I weighed myself this morning and I weighed 172 pounds! WOO! But around 4 o'clock I weighed myself and I weighed 180 pounds again. I think my scale is broken.

I've tried to be good today, but its so hard when cravings are running crazy. I've been really bad about remember to take pictures of what I'm eating, but I'm working on it.

 I love these Lean Cuisines. They're pretty tastey (most of them anyway) and are safe for calories. And all you have to do is microwave. I highly recommend picking some of these up because they are really a dieters salvation. Can't eat too many calories, can't mess up on the portion size, and its so quick! Great for lunches.

 Home made chicken soup, barely any salt. Not sure of the calorie content, but I'm sure its pretty low. Low fat, whole wheat egg noodles.

 Total cereal. I had two bowls today, so probably about 3 "servings" But still better than chips and Mt. Dew.

Frozen mangoes. My new favorite snack.I picked them up to add to my Greek yogurt in the morning, but they're great as a snack all by them selves. Delish!

Beets. Its whats for dinner.

aaaaaaand dinner.
Beets and white wine. Yum!!

FEED ME!

Okay, for serious. Fasting is not easy. I'll admit, that day one was pretty cake. I was hungry, yes. But it was kind of a mild pang that just hung around all day. Today, day two however, not so easy. Oh man. I woke up with a major growl in my tummy. I just couldn't make it go away with soup or coffee. So I caved a little and had a glass of V8. Craaaaaazy I know! But I couldn't help it.

Then I went to visit my mom at the hospital (long story, she's fine) and was hungry again. I had 3 cups of tea and had the biggest head ache in ages. So when she ordered lunch, I ordered "Lentils in Vegetable Broth." Sounds simple enough, but it was so thick it was almost split pea like. Don't get me wrong, it was DELICIOUS, but I wanted to be strong and not lose it all. So I had some very thick broth and tried to eat a few spoonfull sof lentils. It helped a little.

So FINALLY, the time has arrived to eat. Yummy yumm yummmmm! I was to make "lean" meat and two vegetables. So I cooked up a slim piece of steak and broccoli and carrots. Funny thing is, I couldn't even eat all the meat!!

Best. Steak. Ever.

I'm so full now its crazy!! And that plate was so small!! (that's a salad size there, the steak was probably about 6 ounces, those are baby carrots).

I feel proud of myself though. I did it. Mild "cheating" but I hardly think a glass of V8 and some lentils will break the bank. I was really wondering if I could make it. I'm a serious snacker too. I did really well with drinking lots and lots and lots of hot tea. I even bought some more today, a green tea medley pack, peach black tea, and some more chamomile (caffeine free). I'm doing really well drinking it without sugar too, which is a big leap for me.

So the "French Women Don't Get Fat" jumpstart Leek Soup diet was a success. The scale said I lost 2 pounds this morning. We'll see what it says tomorrow. I'll probably only finish my steak tonight, and maybe have a couple more servings of veggies. I bought some "ready to eat" beets from Trader Joe's, so I'm curious to see how those are.

BMI

I checked my BMI today, for shits and giggles. 

Body mass index (BMI) is measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.

BMI Categories:

• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Your Body Mass Index

The Height you entered is 5 feet, 8 inches. The Weight you entered is 180 pounds.

Your Calculated BMI is: 27.4

Yikes! Not a surprise, I'm "overweight"
Guess I'm on the right track!

What's your BMI? Are you on the right track?

Leek Soup: Day One

Well, day one of my leek soup diet. Yup. I've gone for the entire day only drinking the leek soup. And for dinner? This is what I had:

Conclusion?

I don't really like leeks.

Don't get me wrong, the soup tastes alright. Kinda like carrots. But the leeks themselves? Meh. I'm a texture person, and it was just too slimey or stringey, or... something.

And thus also concludes day one of my photo food journal. Oh-- I did have coffee this morning. BLACK. First time ever. No milk. No sugar. No splenda. Nada. It was alright. I can do it. But not my favorite. I'm also having tea now. I figure those two things aren't cheating. I kinda have a headache now. Probably low blood sugar. I tend to eat a bit of sugar and carbs, so I'm sure my body is pissed at me.

I did take the dog for a walk today. About 2 miles. So I figure that was pretty low intensity exercise, but I still broke a mild sweat. Yay me!

I wonder how tomorrow will be...

photo food journal

Woo!

Had a great evening last night, and did pretty good with the diet... except for the 8 beers.

Fail.

And of course today's mild hangover has caused me to fall off the wagon too. Pizza. Pasta. M&M's. Two, count 'em TWO sugared sodas. Dammit.

Double Fail.

So. Tomorrow beings two things.

First off is I'm starting a photo food log. I've been keeping track of my eatings in a handy little notebook, but I read somewhere that its a good idea to take pictures of what you eat. Since you can get a good idea of your portion sizes, and the more "colorful" you food is, the more diverse in vitamins and minerals it tends to be. So I'll start posting that tomorrow! :)

And tomorrow I'll be starting a Leek Soup food fast. About a year ago I read the book French Women Don't Get Fat. I'm sure you've heard of it, and I enjoyed it. The Leek Soup is basically leek broth that you eat for two days. That's it. Leek soup and the occasional leek. I'm curious to see how awful it will be. Not the flavor, but how starving I'll be. I'm not going to do a ton of exercising, other than walking, but I'm going to start doing yoga. Time to get use out of the mat my boyfriend bought me for Christmas. YES!

Today

So I've been reading the book The Flex Diet, which you may see pictured on the sidebar as an "inspiration." I really like the book so far because it gives you over 200 easy ways to lose weight. They're mostly simple, no brainer type solutions that you can easily use every day (you know, besides the whole exercise thing).

The book is broken down into three sections.
     Today which is things you can do immediately to jump start your weight loss
     Every Day which gives you more ideas to incorporate into your every day routine, and
     Your Way which are more ideas to help you from plateauing or a way to switch up your weight loss plan.

From each section you can chose the ideas that will work for you which make them easier to stick to. Here's my list of goals/rules that I plan on sticking to during this first 2 weeks!!

1. Commit yourself by taking a photo. DONE!
2. Write a blog. HELLO!
3. Weigh yourself daily.
4. Keep a food diary.
5. Drink 6 glasses of water a day.
6. Take a multivitamin.
7. Eat more apples.
8. Eat greek yogurt
9. No eating after dinner (cut off is 8pm).
10. Sleep at least 7 hours per night.

pics and stats

As promised... here's my stats and pics.

From the beginning.

No laughing please!

Don't worry, I didn't do any bikini pics for you guys. I think you can get the gist of my beer belly, my muffin top and my fat ass action without needing to see actual skin. I'm wearing an Old Navy size "L" shirt and American Eagle size 14 jeans. They're both tight as you see, which is yet another reason why I need to lose some weight... I can't afford to buy new clothes! Ha.

No makeup. Yikes!

Please enjoy that double chin action!

Is-- is that-- a double muffin top? Sweet!

Current weight: 178.6

Pant size: 14

Hips: 45"

Waist: 39"

And nothing says Sad & Lonely more than going to the store and buying 10 "Lean Cuisine" frozen dinners. Hey sad cat lady!! Wah. Wah. Wah.

Day 2: Hunger strike

Well I'm off to a roaring start!

All I've had to eat today is 2 cups of coffee. Why haven't I eaten? Oh-- well I've been out of town for a week and a half and have no food. NO SNACKING FOR ME! Yes!! Hahaaa. The downside is that when I do finally eat, it'll be hard not to blow it out of the water and eat a ton of something bad for me. BOO!!

Gotta be good. Gotta work out too. My poor aching joints. That a major motivator for me. As I get older (at the ripe old age of 32) I notice aches and pains in places I never would have imagined! I currently have knee pain, elbow pain and shoulder pain all on my right side! I'm hoping some movement will grease up these old joints!

I spent this last weekend snowshoeing and had a great time. LOTS OF CARDIO involved in that. Especially when the snow is nice and soft and you sink in 3 or 4 inches. I got 2 days in while we were there, so I gotta keep the rhythm going today. WOO!

My goal per day of caloric intake is going to be 1500 calories. It could be a stretch. Pretty much since Christmas I've been eating a lot of sugar, and large quantities of food, and bad food. The daily mantra of "I'll start a diet tomorrow" has been flying around my brain since probably Thanksgiving. No time like the present.

Yesterday I took a picture of myself and thought... ewwwwwww... Why do I look so fat in pictures, but not that fat in the mirror! WHY?! Oh yeah-- cause fat sneaks up on you. Little bit here and there and everywhere. Apparently I've been carrying a lot in my face. YUCK!

Now I know I promised pictures and measurements... they'll come a little later, after I shower. You know... get the totally 100% correct weight. I don't want my slippers of pajama bottoms adding any unnecessary weight! Right?! Hahahaa.

Let's do this.

Well here I am. Another blogger trying to lose weight. Another blogger blogging about that journey. WELCOME!

I can't promise that this will be any different than any of the other blogs out there. All I can say is that I'll be totally honest about my journey. I really really need to do this for myself. I've been blogging for over a year now and have found that its a great outlet and support system. So here I go...

My current weight loss goal is 40 pounds. I'd love to lose 50, but who's kidding who. Lets be realistic, right? My reasons for actually putting on the weight are pretty simple. I lost my job about a year and a half ago, and unemployment has not been kind. Sitting on your ass all day doesn't do said ass any good. I originally thought "How great, I can go to the gym like 4 hours a day. I'll get in GREAT shape!!" Liar, liar, size 14 pants on fire!

Today is day one. The beginning.

My goal for this blog is to try to use it as a journal. Motivation to see in print (ish) what I've done, eaten or seen for the day. I'm not good at following up on actual paper, so again, I'm going to a format in which I'm comfortable with.

TOMORROW I'll be weighing in officially. Posting goals and pictures.

Join me. Or don't. Comment. Or don't. This is for me, and for you, but no one can make these major life decisions but you. And I've made this decision.

Are you ready?

Okay.

Let's do this.